If you are struggling with suicidal thoughts, call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-8255.
TMZ is reporting that late Cranberries singer Dolores O’Riordan attempted suicide in 2013.
“Dolores tried taking her life by OD’ing back in 2013, saying she had suffered a mental breakdown. She was also diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression. Dolores said she believed some of her emotional problems emanated from being abused as a child.”
Note that as of this writing, O’Riordan’s official cause of death has not been revealed. She died today at the age of 46. BBC reports that a Metropolitan Police spokesperson said the police were called to a hotel in Park Lane at 09:05 GMT on Monday, where “a woman in her mid-40s” was pronounced dead at the scene.
The death is, at this stage, unexplained.
O’Riordan opened up about having bipolar disorder in a 2017 interview with Songwriting Magazine.
Typically, where do you normally look for inspiration?
“I go from a lot of different life experiences: births, deaths, war, pain, depression, anger, sadness… emotions, y’know. Nostalgia is a big one for me, but then I’m also obsessed with mortality. I wake up in the morning and I’m feeling anguish, I feel terrible and I don’t know why. I wake up and look out and think, ‘Oh God, how do I get through another day!?’ I get so worried, and I have a couple of cups of coffee and I start to feel okay, but life can be difficult.”
So do you use songwriting as catharsis to make sense of that?
“Yeah, I’ve always struggled with mood-swings. I have bi-polar disorder and so I think I go from being extremely high to being really low – one extreme to the next. But I honestly think a lot of writers have trouble that way, especially as life progresses. I find life really difficult, so I have to keep busy all the time, otherwise I go crazy – I suppose that’s why writing is great.”
Do you like to write in the morning when you’re in that low state, or do you wait until the fog lifts and you start feeling more optimistic?
“Well, I tend to write straight through all the time, but I think that’s why some of my material can be very bright and poppy, and some can be very dark. Like Rupture is a dark song, but I go to deep, dark places and then I can be elated and it can all happen in one day.”
Do you think your disposition makes you better songwriter, in some ways?
“I think it plays a part in it, definitely, with the mood swings I get.”
